


Shadows of Winterfell

by mrs-storm-andrews (no_fucking_idea_for_a_name)



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: ASoIaF, Daenerys has taken the Iron Throne, Future Fic, Post Season Six, a little trace of Theonsa, also a small trace of Yanerys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-25 20:23:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7546461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_fucking_idea_for_a_name/pseuds/mrs-storm-andrews
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The North was defeated. Crushed. Burned to the ground.<br/>Years of war had brought it to the verge of obliteration. The winter had done its bit, too. It was freezing cold. Northerners were dying one by one without supplies to feed them, without homes to warm them and without hope to steady them. An almost deserted maze of snow, ice and ruins stretched in front of the Dragon Army for miles as they marched towards Winterfell.</p><p>>> My take on how things could evolve after season 6. A future fic written from Theon's POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadows of Winterfell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After years of war the Dragon Army was marching towards Winterfell.

The North was defeated. Crushed. Burned to the ground.  
Years of war had brought it to the verge of obliteration. Theon was barely able to recognise the land he had spent his entire youth in. The winter had done its bit, too. It was freezing cold. Even the hardened Northerners were dying one by one without supplies to feed them, without homes to warm them and without hope to steady them.  
So many young, strong men had died during the years of war. Now most of the North's population consisted of children, women and a few elders. None of them had much energy left to rebuild houses and villages. Life had been just about mere survival.

An almost deserted maze of snow, ice and ruins stretched in front of them for miles as the Dragon Army marched towards Winterfell. Theon could already make out its massive walls at the horizon.  
The first time, he came to Winterfell as a hostage of Lord Eddard Stark. The second time, he came as an ironborn invader. The third time, he was a hostage again. And today, they were coming as vanquishers, about to negotiate for the fate of the North with the vanquished. Theon didn't feel like a vanquisher, though. He felt like an invader once again. He'd rather just turn his horse and ride back to the Iron Islands to spend his remaining days in a cottage near the cliffs, keeping war, harm and misery out of his life.  
But it wasn't his to choose his fate. He had promised his sister to be with her, back in Volantis, and he was keen to keep his promise, even if it meant that his death was already sealed. But all men must die eventually.

Theon let his gaze wander, while he rode a couple of feet behind Yara. Alongside the road soft hills welled up, but they weren't made of soil and rock. Instead, bodies and rubble were piled up in heaps in order to keep at least a small path passable for horses and carriages. Covered by a thick layer of innocently white snow, they almost appeared to be ordinary hills, but an arm or a leg sticking out occasionally stained the illusion of peacefulness.  
The cold kept the bodies from rotting as if to preserve them for spring. Theon wouldn't bet on spring to ever come, though. The past years had been too dark and too cold. He sometimes felt as if they had never experienced summer at all.  
The green, lush landscape once surrounding Winterfell when he was still a youth had faded into a vague memory. He could barely recall it, crossing the landscape now with thousands of soldiers and with years of war behind them.  
Theon knew the North had been badly affected by the fights, but he had never imagined the damage being that vast. He had never imagined the North to be defeated in the first place. But the war against the Lannister army and the fights against Euron's forces had made the North bleed white.  
Occasionally, there also had been smaller battles far in the North, but no one could tell exactly against which enemy they fought. Tyrion assumed them to be wildlings trying to flee the winter and get south. Theon agreed. Wildlings had always caused trouble in the far north. He thought of Osha and the day he had saved Bran from her fellow wildlings. Theon felt a sting in his stomach. _This is not your house._ That day had been just another occasion for people using their chance to remind him that he didn't belong. 

The only person he had ever really belonged to was his sister, Theon told himself. But still, looking at Winterfell in the distance made his heart go heavy. _Sansa_.  
He didn't know if she was still alive. Not much was known about the well-being of House Stark. He knew, Jon claimed himself a Targaryen - not right to the delight of Queen Daenerys. Bran was still alive and the Lord of Winterfell now. But no one could tell what happened to Sansa. She had been still around, when Jon got declared the King in the North, but afterwards her trace had been vanishing more and more.  
A small part of Theon hoped she was dead. When they separated after escaping from Winterfell, Theon intended to make Yara help Sansa get back the North. But things went differently. Instead, he helped Yara, Daenerys and Tyrion to force the North to its knees. Once again. He knew, supporting his sister had been the right thing to do. The Iron Islands needed her. And she needed his support. But not helping Sansa was a byeffect almost breaking his heart. Theon was so afraid of possibly meeting her again, of seeing despite in her eyes. But the larger part of him prayed to every god he had ever known for Sansa to be safe. He knew that everything she had felt for him after escaping from Winterfell would be gone and replaced by disappointment and hurt, but he didn't care as long as she was safe and unharmed. 

Getting closer to Winterfell, he braced himself for finding out about her fate soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Feel free to leave comments. I appreciate feedback of any kind.


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